Shirokuma ecofarm

Shirokuma ecofarm

Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:59 pm

Hello,

I am Bart and this year started a small farm with the focus on ecology.To reach this I try to combine many different technologies and techniques together to reach big production but also improve the natural environment around me.I mainly sell to a vegetable market and also have a small subscription based customer group.My ventures are:-Biogas: I pick up kitchen and garden waste from my subscription customers while I am delivering vegetables. The waste will be then schredded and go into a biogas generator. The biogas is now only used for cooking my lunch but I aim to expand the biogas generator to produce enough for generating electricity to sell together with solar panels and wind. -Bioponics (under construction): a certain part of the effluent of the biogas generator will go into my bioponic system. I am constructing bioponics inside a greenhouse for tomatoes, paprika and a nursery. Outside I will construct NFT tubes and this will be used after last frost. The place where the NFT tubes will come is now seeded with white clovers to reduce weeds and increase pollinators/predator insects to reduce pests without chemicals. -Soil based farming: I am using a permanent raised no-till beds with wood chips between the beds. The beds themselves are having a white clover mulch to increase mycorrhizal fungi, regulates soil humidity and nitrogen fixer. Before transplanting I make holes in clovers where I want to plant and fertilize using the effluent of the biogas generator. During growing I am planning to spray the vegetables 2-3 times with a 50% diluted effluent.

Like you see, I am not using tractors or any other fossil fuel burning equipment and I am not using chemical-fertilizers what needed a lot of fossil fuels to produce. Delivery to my customers and shops are also done by electric car.And I am not spraying any herbicides and insecticides to improve natural balance.

I wish to find on this forum many advice, tips and new idea's for building up of my farm so I don't need to make too many preventable mistakes what would ruin my survival chance